The Victorian Greens say secret documents prove Labor’s “utter disrespect and contempt” for residents, as government research released under FOI exposes that Labor knew public housing residents overwhelmingly opposed the demolition of Melbourne’s public housing towers.
The Greens say Labor wasn’t genuinely consulting residents. They were focus-grouping the political damage before bulldozing people’s homes.
The findings destroy Labor’s claim that residents were genuinely consulted and prove that Labor had already made its decision because they bulldozed ahead, lied and concealed information.
The focus group research reveals residents overwhelmingly rejected Labor’s demolition plan and warned the proposed mix of private and social housing would increase stigma and leave public housing tenants being looked down upon.
The report also confirms residents loved their homes and communities, but had endured years of Labor neglect, with serious maintenance issues left unresolved for months.
It follows repeated revelations that Labor has withheld key documents, ignored the recommendations of the Parliamentary Inquiry and refused to release the evidence underpinning the biggest public housing decisions in Victoria’s history.
As stated by the Victorian Greens housing spokesperson, Gabrielle de Vietri:
“Labor treated public housing residents with utter contempt from the very beginning. Labor wasn’t genuinely consulting residents. They were focus-grouping the political damage before bulldozing people’s homes.”
“Labor heard residents overwhelmingly say they didn’t want their homes demolished. They heard people feared more stigma, losing their communities and being pushed out. Then they ignored every word and bulldozed ahead anyway.”
“It’s no wonder Labor spent two years trying to keep this report secret. Every shred of evidence that we’ve had to claw from them about this project has exposed another lie, another cover-up or another example of residents being treated with complete disrespect.”
“This has never been about listening to residents. It has always been about forcing through a plan Labor had already decided on to hand over valuable inner city public land to private developers to profit off, no matter the human cost or cost to taxpayers.”
